Feathery Friday

It's been a good week. We've had a couple of days with cooler temps and lower humidity so I was able to take nice long walks with Zoey up at the park. I found these Blue Jay feathers along the path. No doubt the bird they once belonged to became a hawk's meal, poor thing. I took the feathers home, washed and dried them and saved them for a possible craft project.

It's really beautiful where I walk. There's a creek that runs through the park and a little bridge that goes over it. Little fishes live in the water and turtles too. Hubby and I go on weekends together and always bring Cheerios to feed them. I brought some with me yesterday and this little guy was right there waiting for his breakfast.

In our own backyard it's been busy with all kinds of bird activity. I was sitting out there with Zoey under our shade umbrella when I realized there was a bird that kept swooping around me.  I looked up and there up inside the umbrella, I saw a nest!

It's a cardinal's nest!

We are so excited! At the same time we are worried because, should a storm come through, we'll be unable to take the umbrella down and it could blow over. Not sure what to do except hope that the babies hatch and learn to fly quickly before that happens. 

I've been busy painting rocks all week. I finally finished my basket of apples and I have to say it's my personal best. I call it my masterpiece, lol

I'm keeping this one for myself. I just love it.

It was hard to think of something that could top that piece, so I went in another direction entirely and decided to do some graphic style back-to-school rocks. I had a lot of fun with them.

I posted this last photo on my Facebook page. My principal saw it and messaged me that she wanted to buy the whole set, so they are sold! lol

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At this point, you may be wondering if there is any update on my daughter. Well, last Friday she had her interview with the charter school for the computer tech job. She didn't leave there feeling very confident. The job is much more than it was described in the posting and would involve her having to go to one of the 30 schools each day on her own. Some locations are an hour away from the administration building. She said their systems are much more advanced than what she was used to working with when she was a tech aide 6 years ago. They said they'd contact her within a week and as of yet she has heard nothing. The job is still posted and has been up since May so either they are not in a hurry to hire someone or they've not found the right candidate yet.

In the meantime.....

In my last post I wrote that her computer tech interview had been rescheduled from last Monday to that Friday. Well, in that week's time she was contacted by the animation studio!! Yes!! They emailed her saying that she might be a good candidate for their team. Well, she was very excited as you can imagine. They needed her to sign a non-disclosure agreement before they could "move her application forward." She did that and then received a test. It was a background test and something not in her style at all. She said it's for them to see if the artist can adapt their skills to the studio's needs. She was given a week to complete it. 

Well, she worked on it over the weekend and submitted it on Tuesday. She then got a response saying they would contact her early next week. So at this point we are just waiting. Waiting. Waiting. If she doesn't hear anything back from the school today, it's a safe bet to say she didn't get the job, so the next thing to do is wait for the animation studio to respond. She's on pins and needles as are we all. 

Have a good Friday and a great weekend!

The Final Stretch!

Only one week left of school! Hallelujah! The kids are bouncing off the walls, the teachers have a glazed-over look in their eyes and the lunch ladies are so ready to be done with cooking. It's like when Dorothy finally makes it out of the poppy field and can see Oz just up ahead.

 "You're out of the woods, you're out of the dark, you're out of the night. Step into the sun, step into the light."






Next week there will be lots of class parties, graduations and such. as things begin to wind down. Thursday is the last day for kids and Friday we have to clean and pack away stuff for the summer.

It's been a stressful year and I have suffered with major anxiety that stemmed from a particular situation, one which I cannot talk about, but as of yesterday, the situation has been resolved and it's like being able to breathe fresh air for the first time. Now I'm reconsidering leaving. I'm hesitant as to whether or not I should accept a chance to interview for this other job that I applied for and the more I hear about it, the more I think it may not be a good fit for me.

It's a very non physical job and there is a lot of boredom associated with it which I'm afraid will drive me insane. It also involves dealing with the public which I'm not sure I'm prepared to do as I have been working in a controlled school environment for 12 years. The job has good medical benefits similar to what I have now which covers me, my spouse and my daughter, but I would be basically starting over and subject to being terminated without reason, whereas I am now tenured at my current job and they can't just hand me a pink slip without prior warnings. I also love having my summers off. This is a tough one. My gut is telling me to stay, but that could be my fear of change. (ya think?) What would you do?

Odds and Ends.

What are the odds?

Wow, I haven't done an odds and ends post since 2016. I used to do one every week. Well, today is the first day of my summer vacation and here I am writing a post on a Wednesday morning. I now have free time to do fun stuff like play around in PicMonkey. This morning I made a cool graphic just for this post. I just love how it turned out!

Go east young man!

This past weekend, we were bracing for Tropical Storm Alberto, which was originally headed right to our front door, (see red dot), but he made an easterly shift and we were spared his wrath, thank goodness. (Sorry Florida!) We got some rain, but nothing like the 6-12 inches they were predicting last week. Something tells me this hurricane season will be a nail biter. As I write this, remnants of Alberto are rumbling in the distance.





When you simply can't say no.

Hey, remember the book rock I painted for the retiring librarian? Well, I was asked to do another one for our retiring principal. The assistant principal wanted to give it to her as a gift, so she commissioned me to make another one. So last week, after work, I took a 45 minute trip to the rock store to find another book-shaped rock. Thankfully I found this one that was perfect and it was in the 10 cents a pound bin which was awesome.

Here is the finished rock. The assistant principal was super happy with it, so that ended my last day on a high note for sure and I even got a few bucks in my pocket.

Last Friday was the last day for students at school, but we had to return yesterday for one more day of work. Our kitchen will be getting a new floor over the summer, so we had to relocate everything out into the cafeteria that we could physically move. There will be a special crew to come in and move all the ovens and other major equipment. We go back in August a week and a half before the kiddos return and we'll be busy putting the place back together again. It'll be a lot of work, but I'll think about that later.

Every man needs a hobby.

Big happy smile just after pushing it home.

Hubby is gradually closing out his steampunk business and strictly only making items to sell on consignment at Aunt Matilda's Steampunk Trunk in St Augustine, Florida. He has a new obsession now. A motorcycle. We went to a neighbor's moving sale and it just so happens they had this 1985 Kawasaki KZ454 bike in their garage that hadn't been ridden in years and didn't start. They only wanted $200 for it and it's all hubby could think about for weeks. He used to have a similar bike years ago, but he sold it when we bought our first house. Megan said she'd buy it for him and, what do you know? She did! They both pushed it home together. LOL!

Hubby has been spending every free minute working on it, cleaning and polishing every nook and cranny, replacing parts, touching up paint and he got it running again. He starts it every day and runs it for a few minutes, revving the engine, much to the delight of our neighbors. (lol) He used some stuff called Seafoam and ran it through the engine. It worked wonders and now it's not nearly as horrific sounding as it was when he first got it started.

Before

After

Not bad for 33 years old.

Replacing the front seals on the forks.

Now that it's running, he needs to get it registered and insured, so he can start riding it and get used to what it feels like to ride again. He wants to take it to and from work this summer. His job is only 4 miles away, but it will probably save a lot of gas compared to using his van. His crossing guard duties have ended with the school year, so he can start his grounds keeping job earlier and be home earlier over the summer which is good because the days are getting very hot and humid now.

Forever furry.

Every morning these two do this.

Mister and The Muffin are both doing well. Although Mister is on a diet, he has only lost a small amount of weight on his very expensive Hill's Metabolic Formula dry food. I'm taking our dog Zoey for her yearly checkup on Friday and I'm going to ask the vet if there's an over the counter food I can give Mister instead of the prescription diet. It's just so pricey! The Muffin has not shown any signs of illness in over a year. You may remember she was very ill and had lost of lot of weight. She has filled out nicely and is doing well on her prescription, (also very pricey, but worth it), Hill's K/D formula dry food for cats with kidney issues. Between the two of them, there are lots of orange tumbleweeds floating around the house as you might imagine. 

Mister goes under my bed whenever he hears thunder.
He's got lots of room to stretch out under there now that I've cleaned it all out.

I've already started doing my summer deep cleaning which involved pulling storage bins out from under the beds. Wow, I couldn't believe how much fur was trapped under there! We plan to replace the carpet in all three bedrooms with vinyl plank flooring as soon as we have the time to get it done. The rugs just hold so much fur and dander that we are all sneezing our heads off, no matter now much we vacuum. I just decided to get rid of the under-bed storage. I did some rearranging, put stuff up in the attic and donated a lot of things as well. The downsizing continues!

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This concludes my odds and ends post for this week. I hope to post more over the summer. I have a long list of things I want to get done including preparing for and teaching a rock painting class at the library in a couple of weeks, painting some more special request rocks, painting some furniture, and tackling some other projects around the house. The days are going to fly by. Ciao and meow!

Furry Friday!

Look at those faces! Just look at those little faces! Those sweet little faces! Can you believe that someone dumped this litter of puppies in the middle of the road in my development at 10:30 at night? It is scary to think that there are evil people walking among us, people with no heart, no conscience, no empathy. Fortunately there are also angels among us who are put in just the right place at just the right time, people who remind us there is still goodness in this world.

It just so happens that the young woman that saved these puppies works at a doggie daycare that is affiliated with a dog rescue which has already taken in these furry angels. They will get vetted, receive medical care and be put up for adoption soon. Supposedly they are a beagle/dachshund mix and all female. I want one, but I don't think I'm ready for a puppy. I know Zoey would love it, but just the thought of potty training is exhausting. There is so much interest in these babies, that I'm sure they'll all get adopted in no time, so I'm not worried.

A week before this happened, 20 cats were found inside a truck belonging to a lady who was traveling from Florida to Arkansas. She was staying in a local hotel and an employee heard faint meowing from the truck. She called the police and the cats were brought to our local shelter. They were crammed in just a few crates with no food, water or litter. They were close to death, but thank goodness, saved in time to get medical care. They too are getting vetted and put up for adoption as they are ready. Charges will be pressed against the woman, even though she surrendered the cats. What is wrong with people?

In other news, last week was teacher and staff appreciation week. I was a lucky, lucky girl because the class that was assigned to shower me with appreciation went above and beyond. I got cards, flowers and gifts all week, making me feel so special and part of my school family for the first time.

Lots of great cards!

Snacks and even a bandanna!

Flowers, dog treats, a hummingbird feeder and a candle.

The class's room mom had a lot to do with getting all this great stuff. I found out she called my manager and asked me what kinds of things I like, what I'm interested in, etc. She really went above and beyond. I was sure to thank her as well as the class. It really was a great week and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time after the previous week with my dad's funeral and all. Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment and express your thoughts and prayers here on my blog. I cannot even begin to tell you how much that meant to me. You all are the best!

There are only two more weeks left of school and then I'm off for summer break until August 6. Woo! As this school year ends, there are some employees that are retiring and our librarian is one of them. There will be a party for her next week and I wanted to make her a little gift, so I had this rock....

Have a great Friday and a fabulous weekend! 

First Week of School Down And Some Rocks.

Although I've been back at work since August 7th, this past week was the first one with students. They started on Monday, the day of the eclipse. Turkey sandwiches were on the menu, so we didn't have to cook, which was great. We originally planned for the kids to have sack lunches to take outside for the big event, but they ended up eating inside and going out afterwards. 

We spent a lot of time the two weeks prior cleaning and decorating the cafeteria. My manager had some tension style curtain rods and we made up paper banners to hang in the windows. I created the one above. Our new assistant manager made this school bus banner below. She is crafty too.

Our theme this year was emojis, so we each made one with our likenesses. lol. 

And we put more around the cafeteria for fun.

So being back at work means less time for painting rocks. I have 7 weekends until the fall pop up market to get more inventory made. I have about 35 rocks so far, but I'd like to have 50. Yesterday I put on Pandora and got busy. I made one rock for inventory and also got some done for hiding. It's been a long time since I hid any rocks. My hubby even got into the action. Here are some we made and placed around town yesterday.

Some simple love rocks made using Frog tape and assorted glitter nail polish.

These are strawberries I had started a long time ago, but never got around to
putting the seeds on. I used paint pens instead of a brush which worked out better.

These are hubby's rocks. He really got into making and also hiding them.
I even added him as a member of our rock group.

And this is the rock I made for my fall market inventory. I love how it came out.

Punkins!

I made this gator last weekend. He's pretty cool.

And this is a book of spells I made two weekends ago. Yes, it's a rock. I found it in a pile of
dirt that was being dug up for a drainage project in our local park. It's really bumpy on the back, but
the shape just screamed out "I'm a book!"

So that's what's been going on in my world lately. I have some Furry Friday catching up to do, so maybe I'll do a pet post soon. Have a great Sunday!

Schools out and I'm in!

That's right! School is out! Whoopee! And guess what? I got a job. There were openings at the two schools that I sub for most frequently and they both wanted me. I agonized over whether or not I wanted to work full time and also which school would be a better fit for me. I finally chose one and committed. The school board still has to accept me and sometime during the summer it will be formalized and then I can sign up for medical benefits.

The pay is not great, but I'll have a steady paycheck all year, even in summer and the medical bennies will cost less than half of what I'm paying now. I will only work 185 days a year, no weekends, no holidays, two weeks off for Christmas, a week off for Thanksgiving and Easter and two months off in the summer plus I get a free lunch every day. My hours will be 6-2. After making the decision, I felt a huge weight was lifted off me, so it must have been the right thing to do. I start work the second week of August.

While hubby and Megan were away at the convention, I spent my first day of summer vacation cleaning. And I mean cleaning! I'm still finding a flea or two on each of my cats and it's really pissing me off! I've watched videos and read articles on how to get rid of fleas and the main thing they all mention is vacuum, vacuum, vacuum! So I did and I didn't mess around either!

Since Zoey spends a lot of time on our sofa (on a blanket), I took all the pillows off the sofa, scrubbed them all down with upholstery cleaner, vacuumed every nook and cranny and sprayed it down with flea spray. I flipped the sofa up and cleaned under it and around it. I washed the blanket and put all the throw pillows in the dryer for 30 minutes. This whole room got cleaned and then the second day I moved on to the bedrooms doing a similar treatment, vacuuming the mattresses, the baseboards, everywhere! I spread Diatomaceous earth (food grade),  on all the carpets and along the baseboards in every room.

Hubby put holes in the bottom of a coffee can and we sprinkled DE everywhere. Zoey even got it rubbed into her fur. There are no fleas on her. I keep checking, but I'm not really convinced that this stuff actually works.

This kitty, (The Baby), always seems to have one or two fleas on her. She spends 90% of her time in Megan's room, on or under the bed. I tossed the room completely, vacuumed, and spread the DE everywhere. I found a flea on her back the next morning and another on her head later in the day and another this morning. What??? I'm thinking of rubbing DE into her fur, but I should probably ask the vet for a sedative first or try Rescue Remedy because she's pretty mean and uncooperative. She, (along with the other cats), had the Advantage flea drops applied 2 weeks ago which are for cats 9 pounds and up. She's around 14 pounds so maybe she needs a bigger dose. I'm also going to ask the vet for Trifexis for Zoey. Everyone tells me it works really well. Maybe there's something similar for cats too. I'm at my wits end!

Anyway...the cleaning continued.

I took a break from vacuuming and finally got to scrubbing these brick steps that lead from hubby's workroom up into the laundry room. These used to be outdoor steps until the previous owners enclosed the carport. Every since we moved in, I've wanted to clean that black off of them. Well, I used my trusty Hydro Force cleaner and it worked great.

Here you can see the top step is done.

After

My biggest challenge was cleaning my office. I had to clean it really well because two of our cats spend a lot of time in here. I had all this crap on the floor and it needed to be organized. I stripped the room down, gave it a good vacuuming and spread DE on the carpets and around the baseboards.

Then I put up three shelving units that I got at Home Depot. 

They were not expensive and very easy to assemble.

I had a whole bunch of art that I didn't know what to do with, so I just threw it all up on the wall. Now my office is semi organized, so when I'm done battling the darn fleas, I can start listing some items on ebay and etsy. 

Yesterday I spent the whole day working outside. A whole separate post on that will be up shortly. I was driving to Lowe's for some supplies and noticed something that looked like a flea on my hand. I think my car needs to be bombed as well. That will be today's project. 

Have a great Memorial Day!